Means for decorating fabrics.



No. 708,099. Patented Sept. 2, I902.

' A. 'VERICEL.

MEANS FOR psconATlue'l-Aamc's. (Application filed Apln5, 1902.)

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No. 708,099. Patented" Sept. 2, 1902.

A. V'ERICEL.

MEANS FOR DECORATING FABRICS.

(Applicatipn filed Apr. 5, 1902.] (No Model.) I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANTOINE vEEIoEL, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

MEANS FOR DECORATING FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 708,099, dated September 2, 1902.

Application filed April 5, 1902. Serial No. 101,519. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTOINE VERIcEL, a citizen of France, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Means for Decorating Fabrics, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to means for decorating fabrics, the same being more particularly intended for the application of paint in different colors and according to any desired figure or pattern to fabrics which may be used in many different arts for decorative purposes and for the manufacture of different kinds of household articles,'such as cushions, pillows, covers, &c.

The primary object of the present invention is the provision of an improved stencil by which the desired color of paint may be quickly and easily applied by an unskilled operator to the fabric. Such stencil is capable of manufacture inan expeditious manner, so as to embody any desired pattern or design. It is reinforced in a manner to secure durability to the maximum degree, and it is not liable to tear or break'during service.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby paint in different colors may be easily and quickly applied to the fabric by the successive operation of a series of stencils each embodying a part of the pattern or design and adapted to apply one color, the series ofstencils being normally held out of the wayand adapted to be brought into matching relation over the work before the color is applied to the work through the stencil. I

With these ends in View the invention consists in the novel construction of the stencil and in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating an apparatus embodying myinvention and adapted for the application of a number of colors to a piece of fabric in accordance with apredetermined pattern or design. Fig. 2 is a front elevation looking at the apparatus from the lower edge of the table shown by Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale and in the plane of the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 1, looking in direction of the arrow. Fig. 4 is a detail fragmentary view illustrating the materials employed in the construction of one stencil. Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of a portion of the stencil, showing the method of forming one of the pattern-openings in the paper that forms a part of the stencil; and Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of a part of the completed stencil, showing one of the designs therein.

I will first proceed to describe in detail the construction of one of.the stencils and the steps employed by me in the production of the same, reference being had more particularly to Figs. 4, 5, and 6 of the drawings. The stencil is essentiallya composite fabric comprisinga layer of paper a, a layer of fabric b, and an intermediate layer of adhesive material, (indicated at c.) The layer of paper a should be of strong quality, having high tensile resistance. ploy is of the character known as a bond paper, although I do not desire to confine myself strictly to this particular material. The layer 5 is of an open-meshed fabric composed, preferably, of loosely-woven fibers, so as to have comparatively large meshes or interstices, and the material which I have found suitable for my purpose is known in the trade as bolting-cloth and is employed largely as a covering for the bolting-reels of milling machinery, although any equivalent material may be employed. The two layers a and b are preferably of equal size and are laid face to face, except that in the production of the stencil an adhesive layer 0 is interposed between the fabric and the paper. This layer 0 is a sheet of very thin rubber or gum, which is adapted to be dissolved by the application of heat and pressure to one of the layers and is intended to thereby intimately unite the paper and the fabric.

Having described the materials which are selected for the production of the stencil, I will now proceed to describe the method by which the stencil is made and the parts united.

A design of the proper character or configuration is drawn or stenciled on the sheet of The paper which I em paper a, and the three layers a, b, and c are assembled in proper relation, after which the work is brought beneath the reciprocatory needle of a perforating-machine of a wellknown character. This machine is manipulated to perforate the pattern according to the outline or configuration thereon previously determined by the marking or stenciling on the paper, such perforations of the pattern being indicated at din Fig. 5. The operation of the needle of the perforating-machine serves to cut out the paper and the underlying layer 0 of adhesive material; but the needle does not cut, perforate, or otherwise injure the fibers of the layer 1). The cut-out or removed portions of the paper layer a and adhesive layer 0 are now pulled by hand away from the composite fabric, thus leaving openings in the paper layer a and adhesive layer 0, across which openings extends the fabric layer Z1. The parts comprising the pattern having been cut in the layers ct and c, the next step in the process is to unite the layers ct and I) together, and this is accomplished by passing a heated iron over one of the layers a or b. This iron is hot enough to dissolve the adhesive layer 0, and as the iron is pressed upon the layers a I) the softened gum or adhesive material partly fills the interstices of the fabric layer Z) and is spread over the surfaces of the two layers a b, whereby the said layers are unitediintimately and securely except at those portions of the layers in which the openings have been cut by the perforating-machine, as heretofore described.

The especial advantage of the layers 1) 0 used in connection with the paper layer a is that the stencil formed by the layer-a will not break, curl, or give way around the edges of the openings. The fabric 1) serves as a reinforcement of the paper layer, and these two layers are united intimately, particularly around the edges of the openings in the layer (1, thus effectually overcoming any tendency of the paper to curl and keeping the stencil intact and in good condition after prolonged usage or service of the same.

If a single stencil is to be used for the application of one color to the work, the whole design or pattern is perforated in the paper layer a; but if a number of colors are to be applied a series of stencils are necessary, each of said stencils having a part of the pattern produced therein in the manner heretofore described, and said stencils are arranged in operative relation to a single or common table, so that the stencils may be brought successively into use to apply the colors in matching relation to the work.

'In Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, of the drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of apparatus adapted to employ a series of stencils for the application of different colors to the fabric, each stencil being constructed, essentially, as hereinbefore described and hearing or havinga part of the pattern. Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, 5

designates a table, which may be of any suitable size and shape, and 6, '7, S, 9, and 10 are the series of stencils. These five stencils are intended to apply paint in different colors successively to the fabric or work A, which is laid upon the table in a central position with relation to the series of stencils. In one piece of Work the stencils 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are adapted to apply violet, green, black, White, and yellow colors to the fabric A, and said stencils are adapted to be lowered successively across the work. The stencils are disposed in the inclined positions indicated more clearly by Fig. 1, and they are normally upheld in the vertical positions indicated by Figs. 2 and 3 by means of suitable counterweighted cords. Each stencil has its lower edge fastened to the table by means of a clamping-strip 11, adapted to be fastened in place by screws or other suitable means, as indicated in Fig. 3. The stencil is provided at its top edge with a reinforcement-strip 12, to which is secured a hook or eye 13, adapted for attachment to a cord 14, the latter passing over an overhead pulley 15 and equipped at 'its free end with a drop-weight 16. It will be understood that the stencils comprising the group are individually counterweighted in the manner described, and these stencils are adapted to be lowered individually by pulling down on the strip 12 in order to raise the weight 16 to the position indicated by full lines in Fig. 3, the lowered position of one stencil being shown by full lines in Fig. 3 and the raised normal positions of the group of stencils being indicated by full and dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3.

This being the construction of my stencils and my apparatus for decorating fabrics, the operation thereof may be described, briefiy, as follows: The work A, in the shape of a piece of fabric, is placed in position on the table 5 and between the group of stencils. The operator, standing at the lower edge of the table, is able to reach either of the group of stencils, and these stencils are lowered across the fabric one after the other, and the paint or other coloring-matter is applied through each stencil when in its lowered position. In the arrangement of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 stencils 6 and 7 are lowered successively across the work in order to apply the violet and green colors to the fabric. Then the yellow and white stencils are lowered and the colors are applied through the openings therein, and finally the stencil Sis brought down across the work for the application of the black color to the fabric. This order of application of the stencils may, however, be varied, and it will of course be understood that paint of any desired color may be applied through difierent stencils. In applying the color through the stencil a certain amount of paint is brought across one end of the stencil, and this paint is drawn by a bar or other implement forming a scraper across the face of the stencil with one movement, said scraper bevery quickly to the fabric and enabling the operation to be performed by an unskilled workman or person.

Although I have described that the stencil is used for the decoration of fabrics, it is to be understood that the invention may be i used for the application of coloring-matters to other kinds of materials. While one means of using or applying the stencil is herewith shown and described as an exemplification of the invention, it is to be understood that the stencil or stencils. may be used-in other.

ways and by other apparatusas, for example, the stencil may be inclosed in or bound bya stiff frame, as indicated at 21 in Figs. 1, 2, and 3and the series of stencils may be applied successively in matching order or relation.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A means for applying colors to materials comprising a stencil made of a pattern layer having suitable openings or perforations; an open-mesh fabric extending across the pattern layer and the openings therein; and an interposed rubber sheet or layer having certain parts out out-to conform to the pattern openings or perforations of the first-named layer and dissolved by the application of heat and pressure into intimate union with the pat-.

tern layer and said fabric layer.

2. Astencil comprising a perforated or cut,- out pattern layer, an open-mesh-fabric layer, and an interposed rubber sheet or layer dissolved by the application of heat and pressure andv partially, filling the pores of the pattern and fabric layers and. intimately uniting them ,throughouttheir engagingfaces, said interposed layer having certain portions thereof cut out or removed and conforming to openings or perforations of the pattern:

layer.

3. A stencil substantially such as described, comprising layers of paper, fabricand an interposed adhesive layer; said paper and adhesive layers being perforated and removed according'to the configuration of the pattern and said adhesive layer being dissolved by the application of heat and pressure to the layers, whereby the adhesive layer intimatel unites the fabric and paper layers.

4. An apparatus for applying different colors to materials comprising a suitable table having a work-receiving space, a series of dilferent-color stencils arranged to be successively fitted to said space, and a scraper operatively related to the stencils and adapted to be moved across the same, said scraper being effective at a single stroke in applying any one color to the decorative material through one of the stencils.

5. An apparatus for applying colored patterns to materials consisting of a table havsingle stroke in applying color therethrough to the work in said space. v 6. The combination with a table having a work-receiving space, of a group of stencils ANTOINE vEaIoEL.

Witnesses:

JNo. M. BITTER,

H; T. BERNHARD. 

